Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-02-18
DIR. TALMAGEs SERMON.
"ls the Christian Religion a
Cheat?" His Subject.
a Dclusion That 2OO,OOO,OO
souls as Dupcs, That Has Conquered tho
Hcatllen, That Has Reformed the Drunk
ard. That Is Joy on Earth.


ard, That Is Joy on Earth.
BROOKLYN, Jan. 3O.-At the Tabernacle
this morning the Rev. T. De Witt Talmage,
d. D., baptized by immersion o number Of
persons who preferred that mode. as on the
Sunday previous he had baptized by sprin-
king those who desired. Professor
Browne, the orgnnist, rendered the Sonata
in c minor by Rheinberger. The opening
hymn, sung by the whole congregation,
Ohnppy day that fixed my choice
On Thee, my,Savior and:my God.
After reading another list of those who
during the week had united with the
church, DR.. Talmaee discussed the sub
iect, as the Christian Religion q Cheat?"
His text was: HE made his arrows bright,
he consulted with images, he looked in he
Two modes of divination by which. the
King Of Babylon proposed to find out the
will of God: He took q bundle of arrows,
put them together, mixed them up, then
pulled forth one, and by the inscription IN
it decided what city he should first assault.
Then an animal was slain, and by the
lighter or darker color of the liver the
BRIGHTER or darker prospect of success was
inferred. That is the meaning of the
t,xt: "He made his arrows bright, he con-
suited with images, he looked in the liver"
Stupid delusion! And yet all the ages
have been filed with decisions. 1t seems
as if the world loves to be hoodwinked; the
delusion of the text is only o specimen of q
vast number of deceits practiced upon the
human race. In the latter part of the last
century Johanna Southcote came forth pre-
tending to have divine power, made proph-
ecies, had chapels built in her honor and
100, 900 disciples came forth to follow her.
About five years before the birth of Christ
Apollonius was born, and after five years
being speeches., according to the tradi-
ton, he healed the sick and raised the
dead, and preached virtue, and, according
to the myth, having deceased was brought
to resurrection!
The Delphic Oracle deceived vast multi
tudes of people; the Pythoness, seated in
the temple of Apollo, uttering a crazy
jargon from which the people guessed or
misguessed their individual OF national
fortunes or misfortunes. The u%tterances
were of such q nature that you could read
them any way you wanted to read them.
A general going forth to battle consulted
the Delphic Oracle, and he wanted to find
out whether he was going to be safe in the
battle or killed in the battle, and the
answer came forth from the Delphic Oracle
in such words that, if you put the comma
before the word "never," it means one
thing, and if you put the comma after the
word "never," it means another thing just
opposite. The message from the Delphic
Oracle to the General was: eco forth, re-
turn never in battle shalt thou perish" Ifhe
was killed, that was according to the Del
phic Oracle: if he came home safely, that
was according to the Delphic Oracle. So the
ancient auguries deceived the people. The
! priests Of those auguries, by the fight of
birds, or bYthe information of thunder, or by
the inside appearance of slain animals, told
the fortunes or misfortunes of individuals
or nations. The sibyls deceived the people.
The sibyls were supposed to be inspired
women who lived in caves, and who wrote
the skyline books, afterward purchased
by Tarquin the Proud. So late as the year
1929 o man arose in New York, pretending
TO be a divine being, and playing his part
so we'll that wealthy merchants became his
disciples and threw their fortunes into his
discipleship. And SO in all ages there nave
been nec~romancies, nominations, witch
crafts, sorceries, magical arts, enchant-
ments, divinations and decisions. The
one Of the text was only q specimen of that
which has been transporting in all ages of
the world. None of these decisions accom-
plisned any good. They deceived, they
%palperized the people, they were as cruel
as they were absurd. They opened no
hospitals, they healed no wounds, they
wiped away no tears, they emancipated no
seldom.
But there are those who say that all these
delusions combined are as nothing COM
pared with the delusion now abroad in the
world, the delusion of the Christian re-
ljgion. That delusion has to-day two hun
bred million dupes. 1t proposes to encir-
Gle the earth with its girdle. That which
las been called a delusion has already
cvershadowed the Appalachian range on
this side the sea, and it has overshadowed
the Balkan and Caucasian ranges on the
ether side the sea. 1t has conquered En-
gland and the United States. This cham
pion delusion, this hoax, the swindle of
tie ages, as it has been called, has gone
forth to conquer the islands of
the Pacific: the Melanasia and the
Micronesia and Malayan Polynesia have
already surrendered to the delusion. Yea,
it has conquered the Indian Archipelago,
and Borneo, n Sumatra, and Celebes,
and Java have fallen under its wiles. In
people, 1O2,00 nave already become the
dupes of this Christian religion, and if
things go on as they are now going on and
If the influence Of this great h~allucination
OF the ages cannot be stopped, it will swal-
low the globe. Surprising, then, that
Christianity is the delusion Of the centur-
les, as some have pronounced it, I propose
this morning to show you what has been
accomplished by this chimera, this fallacy,
this hoax, this swindle of the ages.
And in the first place, I remark that this
delnsion of the Christian religion has made
wonderful transformations Of human char
acter. | will go down the aisle of any
church in Christendom and 1 will find on
either side that aisle those who were once
protilgate, prolane, unclean OF speech and
unclean of action. drunken and lost. But
by the power of this delusion of the Chris
tan religion they have been completely
transformed, and now they are kind and
amiable, and genial and loving, and use
full. Everybody sees the change. Under
the power of this great hallucination they
have quit their former associates, and
whereas they once found their chief de-
light among those who gambled and swor
and raced horses, now they find theil
chief Joy among those who go to PRAYER
meetings and churches, SO complete is the
de]usion. Yea, their own families have
noticed 1.-THE wife has noticed it, the chill
dren have noticed it. The money hat went
for rum now goes for books and for clothes